This invention relates to improvements in needle threading devices of the type having a needle threading member manually operable to displace a thread through the eye of a needle supported relative to the device.
Manually operable needle threading devices of the type to which the present invention relates are generally known and, in this respect, include a needle threading member supported in a housing for displacement through the eye of a needle supported by the housing in alignment with the member. The needle threading member operates to push the thread through the needle eye, and threading of the needle is completed by grasping the portion of the thread pushed through the needle eye prior to or during separation of the needle from the device. If the portion of thread is not so grasped, removal of the needle from the device can result in unthreading of the needle, whereby the needle threading procedure must be repeated. Moreover, grasping of the portion of thread pushed through the needle eye is difficult in that the thread portion is extremely small. The latter problem is especially troublesome in connection with threading of sewing machine needles in that the space between the backside of the needle and the foot pad of the sewing machine is rather small. Such limited space, together with visual impairment caused by the presence of the threading device between the user and the area in which the user's hand must work, makes it extremely difficult to grasp the thread.
An additional disadvantage in connection with such manually operable threading devices heretofore provided resides in the fact that the threading procedure therewith is tedious and requires the simultaneous use of both hands throughout the threading operation. More particularly, in a sewing machine needle threading operation one hand is required to position, support and/or operate the device to displace the needle threading member and, following such displacement, the second hand is required to grasp the free end of the thread to prevent unthreading of the needle upon separation of the device from the needle. The latter separation requires continued use of the one hand to support the threading device. The requirement for both hands to be in the vicinity of the sewing machine needle at the same time also makes the threading operation somewhat cumbersome. Moreover, the threading of a hand sewing needle is likewise tedious and cumbersome in that the needle must be supported by the housing so that one hand of the user can support the housing during manipulation of the device by the other hand. Thereafter, one of the user's hands must still support the housing while the other grasps and pulls the free end of the thread through the needle and then the needle must be grasped for separation from the threading device.